Projects

Buy 45 solar electricity panels to supply electricity to the 45 poorest households in Namtsoma Village. Around 230 local villagers would benefit from this project.

Funds needed: $5,788 (41,027 rmb)

Shem US funded this project

Chodpaylhamo is from Namtsoma Village, Me Re Ma Township, Aba County, Aba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. She graduated from Qinghai Normal University Nationalities Department’s English Training Program in December 2005. She is co-founder of Shem Women’s Group and since March 2006 she has been working for Shem Women’s Group as a Development Program Director.

Project Location
Namtsoma Village is located in Me Re Ma Township, Aba County, Aba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. It is southeast of Aba County and it is 33 kilometers from Aba County Town. It is also on the way to Aba County from Hong yuan County, Ro Er Gai County, Ma Er Kang County and Chengdu City. Aba County is on the border between Qinghai Province and Sichuan Province and it is 75 kilometers from Jiu Zhe County in Golok Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province.

Population
There are 278 households and 1308 people in Namtsoma Village. There are 402 men and 550 women and 356 school aged children. Ninety-eight percent of residents are Tibetan and the rest of the residents are Han people.

Education
There is one high school student (a boy), four middle school students (two girls and two boys) and 164 primary school students (89girls and 75 boys). There are four university students and all of them are female. In total there are 173 students out of 356 school aged children.

Herding
Namtsoma is a nomadic village and 70% of households raise 20 to 130 livestock (yaks, sheep and horses). Their lives are mostly dependent on herding their livestock.

Agriculture
There is no agriculture in Me Re Ma Township or in Namstoma Village due to the cold weather and the high altitude 3400 meters.

Cash income
In Namtsoma, 70% of households depend on herding livestock (sheep, yaks and horses) for their livelihood. Three percent of families depend on small business and 27% of families depend on collecting medical herbs, such as bemo, which is a white root herb and costs around 100rmb to 150rmb per jin. Caterpillar fungus is also a kind of medical herb and one piece of Caterpillar fungus costs around 2rmb to 6rmb. However, the prices of these medical herbs change frequently, which can be a problem when the prices drop. In Namtsoma Village around 10% of families save around 2000rmb and about 20% of families save about 500rmb annually. The rest of the families do not save any money and every end of the year need to brow money from the local bank or rich relatives at least 500rmb.

Project goals and benefits

The overall goal of the project is to improve the living condition of Namtsoma villagers.
The immediate goal of the project is to buy 45 solar electricity panels to supply electricity to the 45 poorest households in Namtsoma Village. Around 230 local villagers would benefit from this project.

Problems
1. Villagers have difficulty getting information about the outside world because they cannot listen to radios and watch TVs without electricity. Many only hear news from the few locals that travel or from guests.

2. Working under dim candlelight is inconvenient for women, because in herding areas women work more than men do and they cannot finish everything in the daytime. So women have to work at night (make butter, wash, cook dinner, prepare food for the next day, etc.), but they work under the dim light of candles, which is not easy and is difficult on the eyes. Some families are so poor they cannot even afford candles, so they use paraffin lamps, which are more harmful for the lungs than the candles.

3. The villagers live in tents and sometimes cannot have a nice and comfortable dinner together with family because the wind blows out the candles and butter lamps in the middle of the meal.

4. The butter lamps and candles are also a fire hazard because of the windy conditions, the materials stored in the tents, and the tents themselves. Also, when students study at night after they work, sometimes they forget to put out the candles.

5. Chemicals in the smoke from butter lamps and candles or paraffin lamps damages eyes and lungs.

6. Households use butter to produce dim lights at night, which could have been eaten or sold. Money is used for candles and paraffin lamps, which could be saved to buy other items. On average, each family spends between 50 and 100rmb on candles and paraffin lamps each year.

Benefits
1. The villagers will view or get information about the outside world; if the project can be accomplished, then the villagers will be able to listen to the radio or watch TV and get information about the outside world.

2. Women will have more time to rest because electric light will create a more convenient nighttime work environment. Women will have more time to sleep if they finish their work earlier with the help of brighter light. Also, women will have time to do other things that they like, such as listen to the radio or chat with other women.

3. The villagers will be able to have a nice and comfortable dinner without worrying about the candles and lamps being blown out.

4. Solar panels will greatly reduce the use of candles and lamps and thereby greatly reduce the threat of fire.

5. Health problems will be reduced because smoke from butter lamps, candles and paraffin lamps negatively affect villagers’ lungs and eyesight. If the solar panel project is achieved, then the harm to the villagers’ health will decrease.

6. Butter is an important basic food in Tibetan areas, and every year the local people use 1/4 of their butter for butter lamps. If the solar panel project is accomplished, they can use that butter as food or may sell it to improve their cash income. Some families do not have many livestock, and therefore they cannot produce enough butter to use for lamps. Then, they must buy candles or cheap paraffin lamps, spending money that could be used for other necessities. Solar panels would enable families to save between 50 and 100rmb each year.

Gender equality
If this project is accomplished, women in Namtsoma will have more time to join village activities and learn more about the news or other information. Usually most women in this village have lot of work to do during the day and they have no time to participate in meetings or village activities, so they lack outside information more than men. If they have solar panels, then they can participate in the activities or meetings during the day and they can finish their work at night. So if women can attend more activities, then there will be a higher possibility of hearing women’s voices in village matters. In addition, in my experience these kinds of development projects automatically raise issues of women’s capabilities in the village consciousness. The first time I did a solar cooker project, many people did not believe it was possible. However, now local people often ask me about potential development projects, and I feel locals are becoming more aware of women’s true potentials.

Governmental support
In January 2007, I discussed this project with the Village leaders, Tashi and Ojia. They said this is great project idea and gave me full permission to go forward with this proposal and encouraged me a lot. They will also be responsible for this project.

Project Activities
1. Visit Namtsoma Village and ask about local needs (already completed)

2. Discuss the project with the village leaders (already completed)

3. Hold meeting with the villagers and discuss about the project (already completed) 4. Talk to the Solar Generating Panel Company (Nima Company) and discuss about the price and the quality (already completed) 5. Write proposal (already completed) 6. Send proposal to donor

7. Receive Funds 8. Collect local contribution

9. Purchase solar panels from Nima Company in Xining, Qinghai Province

10. Transport the solar panels from Nima Company to Namtsoma Village, Me Re Ma Township, Aba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province

11. Hold meeting with villagers again with village leaders and give instruction about how to use solar panels

12. Distribute solar panels to the poorest 45 households

13. Supervise the project

14. Interview local people (children, women and men)

15. Take pictures

16. Write final report

17. Send final report to donor with all pictures and receipts

Timeframe
This project will take thirteen days from the time the proposal is approved:

2 days: Receive funds and collect local contribution

2 days: Purchase the solar panels from Nima Company

3 days: Transport the solar panels to Namtsoma Village

1 day: Hold meeting with villagers and village leaders and give instructions about how to use the solar panels.

2 days: Distribute solar panels to the recipients

3 days: Interview beneficiaries and take pictures

Sustainability
The solar panels will be purchased from Nima Company, which guarantees the battery for one to two years and also guarantees the generating glasses for ten years. The company will replace the solar panels in a short amount of time if there is a problem. If the solar panels have problems, the villagers will contact the village leader (Tashi) and he will contact the project manager (Chodpaylhamo) or contact Nima Company for repairs or replacement. Furthermore, the members of Shem Women’s Group also have bought Solar Panels from Nima Company and they all said that Solar Panels from Nima Company are of good quality.

Detailed Budget

Item	Price per item in RMB	Numb ers of items	Donor Contri bution in RMB	Local Contri bution in RMB	Other resource (Shem)	Total cost in RMB
*Solar panel	1,100	45	40,500	9,000	0	49,500
*Management expenses			527	225	0	752
Management payment			0	0	500	500
Total			41027 (5,788 U.S. dollars)	9,225	500	50,752

* One solar panel costs 1,100rmb include the transportation fee and there are 45 poor families chosen to get the solar panels. Each family will contribute 200rmb for per solar panel and the total local contribution is 9,000rmb. So we want to ask 900rmb for per solar panel from the donor and the total donor contribution is 40,500rmb for 45 solar panels. *This project is located in Sichuan Province and it is around 800 kilometers from where the project manager (Chodpaylhamo) now lives and it takes at least three days for her to get there. The transportation and accommodation cost at least 752rmb and the project manager is not able pay for that, so each family will contribute 5rmb for the project management fee, but it will still not be enough for the project management expenses, so we want to ask the donor for the rest of the project management fee (527rmb).

Information about the proposal author
In December of 2005, Chodpaylhamo completed her associate degree in English from the English Traing Program at Qinghai Normal University. Chodpaylhamo has done a Solar Cooker Project for Namtsoma Village and a Solar Cooker Project for Me Re Ma Township, which were funded by the Canada Fund during her study in the English Training Program at Qinghai Normal University. In addition, during her study she completed one Second-hand clothing Project for Namtsoma Village, which was funded by the British Consulate in Shanghai, and a Bridge Project for Me Re Ma Township in 2005, which was supported by Netherlands Embassy in Beijing. Since her graduation she has worked for Shem Women’s Group as a Development Program Director.

Map of project location